WVU Today

Laura Curry has never been abroad, but next year she’ll have the opportunity to study in Tanzania as West Virginia University’s 26th Boren Scholar.

As a history major in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, Curry has concentrations in American, African, Asian and Latin American history but developed a special interest in Africa. She has a minor in business administration and is a student in the Honors College. 

Three West Virginia University graduate students spent the 2018-2019 academic year as Graduate Student Climate Adaptation Partners scholars, developing a digital library and webinar series based on their climate change research. 

Brooke Eastman in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences and Gordon Dimmig and Sarah Mills from the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design represented WVU in the GradCAP program, which brought together 15 students from six Northeast Climate Hub partner universities located from Maine to West Virginia. 

Each year, more than 10 million dry tons of forest logging residue is produced in the eastern United States. 

According to a West Virginia University researcher, those residues are sustainable and can be used for biofuels, bioenergy, green electricity and value-added bioproducts which could spur rural economic development. 

Jacki Englehardt, the Master of Social Work admissions and recruitment coordinator in the School of Social Work, has been selected by the West Virginia chapter of the National Association of Social Workers for the award.

Five of the state’s best and brightest senior high school students who had their choice of some of the nation’s most esteemed colleges have chosen to attend West Virginia University as 2019 Foundation Scholars, the highest academic scholarship the University awards.

These students believe Yale, Harvard, Davidson and Johns Hopkins cannot compete with the “kinship and never-ending Mountaineer pride” that they believe stem from attentive faculty, an abundance of multidisciplinary research and academic achievement, as well as travel abroad opportunities.

A West Virginia University student has been arrested, charged with making terroristic threats. 

Acting on a tip, University Police arrested Cheickna Kagnassy, a 21-year-old freshman pre-business major from Columbia, Maryland, at his residence in Vandalia Hall Wednesday evening, Deputy Chief Phil Scott said. 

Diana Martinelli, who has played a critical role in adapting and expanding curriculum at West Virginia University’s Reed College of Media, was named dean of the school today (May 1). 

Martinelli, who has served as associate dean since 2012, succeeds Maryanne Reed, recently named WVU’s next provost and vice president for academic affairs. 

Carry your keys. Pretend you’re on the phone. Don’t go out alone after dark. People—especially girls and women—receive advice like this every day from friends and family members concerned for their safety. But what if sexual-violence prevention focused less on what potential victims do and more on what potential bystanders do?

West Virginia University researcher Danielle Davidov is examining violence-prevention programs that teach potential bystanders to short-circuit situations that are charged with violence. They give participants strategies for intervening in risky situations—for example, if they hear one person call another a sexually degrading name, or see a semiconscious person dragged out of a bar. They also make bystanders more likely to intervene if the need arises, rather than staying silent. 

Four West Virginia University faculty members, all in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, have received grants from the U.S. Fulbright Scholar Program to conduct research abroad.

The recipients are:

Through a wide-range of activities with organizations and groups of all ages, student-athletes performed more than 460 hours of community service Saturday (April 27) in WVU's first Student-Athlete Day of Service.

After more than 40 years at West Virginia University, Associate Provost for Academic Personnel C.B. Wilson plans to retire effective Sept. 1.

Wilson began his tenure at WVU as chair and professor of Music in 1977 and took on progressive leadership roles in the College of Creative Arts, first as associate dean and later as interim dean of the College.

Quarterback Will Grier was chosen by the hometown Carolina Panthers with the 100th overall pick, and then the guy in charge of protecting his backside, Yodny Cajuste, heard his name called one spot later when he was drafted by the New England Patriots.

An Olympic gold medalist, a retired master sergeant of the U.S. Air Force, a musician, a humanitarian and a legacy who has carried on the Mountaineer spirit as the 21st family member to attend West Virginia University are among those who will receive WVU’s highest student honor, the Order of Augusta.

“We are so proud to recognize some of our extraordinarily talented graduates with the Outstanding Senior award and the Order of Augusta each year,”said Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Joyce McConnell. “Not only have they already made a tremendous positive impact on our campus and in our community, they are poised to head out into the world and truly make it a better place, today and tomorrow.”

With today’s (April 26) announcement of a new interim chancellor for the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, Carolyn Long will return to her post as campus president of West Virginia University Institute of Technology effective Monday (April 29). 

Long’s return to her post at the Beckley campus had been announced previously, effective May 16, but the HEPC decision enables her to return sooner from her stint as HEPC’s interim chancellor. 

Summer camp season at West Virginia University begins in May and offers many options for young people to engage both academically and physically during their summer break. Summer camps are known for providing a safe environment where children gain self-confidence as they learn new skills.  

Individuals of all ages have the opportunity to explore various sports, leadership programs, engineering, forensics, media, earth sciences, the arts, or a wide variety of other interests. Along the way, they will also discover new interests, learn new skills, and build positive social interactions.

The three inductees for the 2019 West Virginia Business Hall of Fame share a common thread: they all acquired a taste for business in West Virginia, and have found incredible success in the state and far beyond.

Bill Bayless, chief executive officer of American Campus Communities Inc.; Judy K. Sheppard, chief executive officer of Professional Services of America, Inc.; and Leo A. Vecellio, Jr., chairman, president and CEO of Vecellio Group, Inc., comprise the 2019 Hall of Fame class. The Hall of Fame will honor the inductees at an evening ceremony and reception Aug. 27 at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, the event that will kick off the 2019 West Virginia Business Summit and Annual Meeting.

Two West Virginia University students’ novel research on ergot alkaloids - toxic compounds produced by fungi - and their importance to the fields of agriculture and medicine will take them to Capitol Hill to present their findings to members of Congress. 

Caroline Leadmon, from Hurricane, and Jessi Tyo, a Gassaway native, are among 60 students selected nationally by the Council on Undergraduate Research to participate in Posters on the Hill April 29-30. 

At West Virginia University, students, faculty and staff are charged with pursuing world-changing discoveries, innovative solutions to the most pressing challenges, academic engagement and excellence, and they are responding to the call. WVU’s second annual Demo Day (April 25) is an example in living color of the University-wide commitment to cultivating a robust and dynamic culture of innovation, entrepreneurship and design.

In just one year, Demo Day has expanded tenfold, from holding eight events with some 200 participants in 2018 to featuring around 30 events with more than 1,600 participants in 2019. Nearly all colleges, as well as both regional affiliates, are sponsoring and hosting activities this year and hundreds of individuals of all ages and backgrounds are expected to attend.

Acute hepatitis C infections rose 98 percent between 2010 and 2015 nationwide, largely because more people were injecting drugs. Using a new needle for every injection can slow the spread of hepatitis C, but getting those new needles isn’t always as simple as buying glucose-meter lancets at the pharmacy. And safely disposing of old needles presents a whole other set of problems. 

A team of West Virginia University researchers wanted to pinpoint what makes obtaining clean needles—and responsibly getting rid of used ones—difficult. To find out, they surveyed 100 people who attend needle exchange programs. Respondents cited one obstacle more than any other: fear of arrest.

Clean water is indispensable for human health, and human activity plays a large role water quality. West Virginia University researchers have compared that circular relationship in watersheds affected by different water movement and external factors to identify the dominant controls of stream water quality and ecosystem health.

Omar Abdul-Aziz, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and doctoral student Shakil Ahmed, conducted the research, quantitatively uncovering the roles of surface runoff vs. ground water, urban vs. agricultural land uses and draining watershed vs. external (e.g., coastal) drivers to determine the amounts of nutrients, biomass and dissolved oxygen in streams and rivers.